Items

• 
  2021-04-25

  EMS education in Massachusetts April 2021

  When the pandemic began in March 2020, the Department of Public Health in Massachusetts sent out a notice that all EMS education classes had to halt until provisions could be made that would ensure the safety of students. By summer of 2020, we could hold courses again to certify EMTs, which was a much needed change. Unfortunately, the requirements have not been easy to contend with, but we have made it work. Medical education is not meant to be remote, it just does not translate well, and the limited time that we had in-person made it difficult for the students to truly get the same level of education as previous providers. Thankfully in April of 2021, things are opening up even more and we are heading back to normal EMT classes. This is going to make things much easier for everyone and hopefully we can keep the restrictions out of EMS education moving forward.
• 
  2021-04-25

  Matthew Williams

  This is the end results from my experiences as an intern with the Journal of the Plague Year archive
• 
  2021-04-11

  EMT psychomotor exam regulations

  At the start of the pandemic, the state of Massachusetts Department of Public Health shut down EMT psychomotor exams which meant that we could not certify new EMTs for several months. This is a terrible thing for an industry that was already having staffing problems before the pandemic began. Then in the summer, the state began to allow us to hold the exams again but under significant restrictions. We had to limit our exams to 8 students which meant that we were forced to hold several small exams instead on one larger one (a logistical nightmare). The students had to do the exam in full PPE with constant hand-washing and sanitation requirements. This past week, the state sent out new provisions regarding psychomotor exams. Thankfully, now we can hold larger exams again. Many of the other regulations are still in place, but the fact that we can have all of our students test at the same time makes things so much easier.
• 
  03/14/2021

  Michael Levesque Oral History, 2021/03/14

  Michael Levesque was a paramedic working on an ambulance at the start of the pandemic. He had a pregnant wife at home and was in the process of switching his career into nursing. He recalls the memories of working on the ambulance and taking care of Covid patients, as well as how Covid impacted the EMS services overall. He also discusses how it felt to be starting his career as an Emergency Room nurse during a global pandemic. In both cases, his job put him directly on the front lines of medicine. He discusses the early problems of lack of knowledge and equipment to properly handle this pandemic. He also explains the mindset of an expecting father, working in a high risk environment, and then coming home to his pregnant wife. Michael’s unique life circumstances and career path gives his interview a perspective that few people experienced.
• 
  03/14/2021

  Layne Williams Oral History, 2021/03/14

  Layne Williams is a Physical Therapist Assistant who was working in a hospital during the pandemic. Her role shifted during the early months of the pandemic and she found herself doing any job that was needed to help with the increased numbers of patients coming into the hospital. She recalled the surreal feeling of walking into her first Covid positive patient’s room and how the mentality of healthcare providers shifted as more information came out about Covid. She also discussed the challenges of being a healthcare provider while living with her husband who is not in healthcare. Her job certainly exposed her to increased risks and those risks spilled over to impact her home life. However, her overall impression from the pandemic is that it showed what the healthcare field is capable of achieving when challenged.
• 
  02/22/2021

  Layne Williams Oral History, 2021/02/22

  This interview is with medical profession Layne Williams who speaks about a positive aspect of the pandemic they noticed.
• 
  02/22/2021

  Robert Williams Oral History, 2021/02/22

  This interview is with Robert Williams who speaks about how working from home during the pandemic had some positive impacts.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Covid Baking Trial and Error

  One of the things that I have recently attempted during the end of the Covid 2020 year and into 2021 is to learn how to bake using healthier fats and alternatives. I love cookies and other baked goods, but I could certainly use less butter and unhealthy fats in my life. Instead, I have spent the past few months of the Covid plague year trying to learn how to substitute things like avocado and applesauce for butter. Sometimes this works really well, other times it comes out horribly. I am trying to use this crazy Covid year to become better in the kitchen with healthier and delicious cooking/baking, but it can certainly be a frustrating process. At least it is fun and a productive use of my time in a time when nothing is open.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Kitchen Organization during Covid

  During Covid, I started to cook a lot of different foods that I had never before. I was always cooking simple things with chicken and potatoes mostly, sometimes pasta and other easy dishes. During Covid, I started to experiment with new styles of cooking and cuisines. I quickly found that my small kitchen was filling up with items and ingredients which was causing chaos and disorganization. I bought a bunch of bins to get things organized. For all of the terrible things going on during the Covid year of 2020, I tried to take advantage of the time by upping my kitchen game as best as possible.
• 2021-02-07

  Covid Rice and Beans Stock Use

  When Covid hit in late February/early March, wide-spread food shortage rumors started to circulate everywhere. The news, social media, friends and family, and seemingly everyone continuously talked about the likely shortages that were going to start to take place. For a good week or two in March, it almost felt possible that our networks for food supply could be shut down, which resulted in everyone stocking up on certain items. One of the few things that I picked up was a big bag of brown rice and a pack of 15 cans of black beans. I hid those away in case the worst would happen. Now, nearly a year later, I am using those supplies and reflecting on the unprecedented panic that was going on at the time that I purchased these items.
• 2021-02-07

  Brussel Sprout Failure

  I have been growing Brussel Sprouts for a few years now. I love growing, eating, and cooking with them! I was looking forward to my harvest of Brussel Sprouts during the 2020 season, especially with the Covid lockdowns and all of the stress involved. It was terrible to see that pests ruined all of my Brussel Sprouts plants so I had none. It was the biggest failure of my garden this year and was made all the more disappointing with the Covid situation going on. Here's to the 2021 season and hoping that I can harvest delicious sprouts!
• 2021-02-07

  Instant Pot cooking

  I bought an Instant Pot a year or two ago when it was the new and big thing in cooking. When I got it, I like many felt quite overwhelmed by the device. Therefor, I really only used it every once in a while to cook rice. Otherwise it stayed packed away in my kitchen. Then the Covid lockdowns started in March, which resulted in more time at home and a desire to do other types of cooking. I started to watch Youtube videos on the various functions and countless recepies. During the lockdowns, I have used my Instant Pot to make everything from soups/stocks/stews to tacos and all sorts of different types of dishes. I would say that I used the Instant Pot more than (or as much as) any other tool in my kitchen during the lockdown.
• 
  2021-01-31

  COVID-19 Gardening in 2021

  The gardening industry saw a jump in the number of home gardeners in 2020 unlike ever seen before. People, with time on their hands and nowhere to go, jumped into the home gardening world. As a home gardener myself, I think that this is a great thing. I have been trying to convince friends of mine for many years now how easy and enjoyable growing some of your own food is. During Covid, many people picked up the hobby. I hope that people stick with it as there are so many benefits. However, I saw last year what panic buying and the uptick in home gardeners did to the industry. At times, it was nearly impossible to find seeds or gardening supplies. For this reason, I have already purchased all of the seeds that I will be using in my garden (a full 2 months before I would have normally even thought about buying them). The photograph is of a couple of the new seeds and varieties that I can't wait to start in the Spring.
• 2021-01-31

  Freezing Masks

  I live in Massachusetts, which certainly isn't the coldest area in the United States, but it is definitely not warm during January and February. Whenever I go out in public areas, like when I am walking my dog downtown or going to work in Boston, I always wear a mask. I personally feel that wearing a mask is a personal responsibility that we owe to everyone else around us. I work for hours wearing the mask, and have no problem doing so because it's the right thing to do. However, it has been particularly cold in Massachusetts the past week or so, which has meant that my mask freezes almost immediately when walking around. The condensation from my breathing quickly freezes from the inside which makes wearing the mask even more uncomfortable than usual. Then, when I get inside, the frozen condensation defrosts and the inside of my mask is soaking wet (not pleasant!!). But at the end of the day, we do what is necessary for the common good, and winter and the virus will soon be behind us!
• 2020-01-19

  Third Semester Teaching during COVID-19

  I teach a few medical-based courses at Northeastern University. We are now in our third semester during the COVID pandemic. Working with the university, we have been able to keep our courses in-person which has been critical for the students to be able to practice the skills required to be healthcare providers. The students wear full PPE (facemasks, eye protection, medical gowns, and gloves) to enable them to work closer than 6 feet with each other. This, along with the university's robust testing procedures allow the students to come in for classes. Thankfully this is the case, as these are skills and experiences that cannot be properly learned in a remote setting. Our students feel safe, and appreciate the university working with us to be able to provide the in-person experiences during this pandemic.
• 
  2020-12-07

  Healthcare Education in the Covid-19 Pandemic

  These are my students who are training at Northeastern University to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) The pandemic has created restrictions that have made training the healthcare providers of tomorrow more challenging than ever before. Students must be in full personal protective equipment including a facemask, faceshield, gown, and gloves. Between faceshield fogging, trouble breathing in the masks during more rigorous physical components to training, and many other obstacles to their learning, the students have shown inspiring levels of resilience. Their strength during these difficult times serves as a constant reminder to me of the ability of the human spirit to overcome any and all challenges, and inspires me to continue to try and find ways to mitigate the effects of the challenges due to the pandemic. Students deserve a proper education and experience, and it is up to educators to match their students efforts in overcoming the barriers that Covid-19 has constructed.